A Lesson for All

Good day to all of you!

While there is no news to report on the baseball roadtrip front, I wish to post an update about the recent events in baseball and some thoughts on it.

As many of you are aware, Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers had retired 26-straight Cleveland Indians batters. On the brink of the third perfect game in less than a month, the 27th man to face Galarraga hit a slow roller in between first and second. Tiger First Baseman Miguel Cabrera hustled to his right, fielded the grounder, and threw to Galarraga covering the bag. The runner was out by almost a step-and-a-half, but first base umpire Jim Joyce signaled that he was safe, thus ending the pursuit for perfection. The replays clearly show that the Cleveland runner was out and that because of the blown call, Galarraga was denied a place in history. Galarraga, when the runner was called safe, did not argue with Joyce, but only flashed a grin and proceeded to get the next batter to ground out for a one-hit shutout. But what happened afterwards is the real story in all of this.

Joyce publicly admitted that he had blown the call. The twenty-two year veteran who had worked two World Series and numerous All-Star Games went on the record and apologized for screwing up and admitted his mistake. After the game, he went into the Tigers clubhouse and personally apologized to Galarraga for costing him perfection. A very humble Galarraga accepted the apology, and, the next day, presented the Tigers lineup card, a job usually reserved for a team's manager, to Joyce in a very heartfelt and tearful ceremony filled with hugs and handshakes.

Normally, I am a very stoic person when it comes to my emotions. Perhaps it is all the time I have had in the public eye being a political candidate or official for basketball and baseball, but I just don't really show my emotions in public. Sure, I have had a lot of bad stuff happen to me, but I usually grieve or rejoice in private. This attitude also includes that sometimes I do not admit my mistakes. After this episode with Joyce and the blown call, I think that I have really changed my perspective on life and how I go about doing things. I smile and shed a tear when thinking about this whole thing. It has inspired me like none other.

Jim Joyce is an Umpire in the Major Leagues. He has been Umpiring baseball for longer than I have been alive. His credentials and experience make him one of the best officials in any major professional sport. But what we saw in that near-perfect game was that everyone makes mistakes. Even the best. But what was truly inspiring was that he came out and admitted his mistakes. He didn't try to hide behind his authority as an Umpire, nor did he try and pawn off the mistake by making up a lame excuse. He was wrong, he knew it, and he admitted to it. This is very admirable.

The Tigers pitcher, Armando Galarraga, is to be commended as well. He had perfection literally taken from his hands by an outside person. He did everything he needed to do to become a part of baseball legend and join an elite fraternity of twenty other men who had thrown perfect games. But since he graciously accepted the apology of Joyce, didn't spout off on the missed call in the media, and was humble enough to shake hands and hug Joyce the next days shows all of us a lesson in sportsmanship that is becoming lost in sports nowadays and trumps any sort of perfect game accomplishment.

Too many times, in the media, we read about fistfights in sports, greedy sports stars squabbling for an extra million on their contracts, and players, coaches, owners, and fans chastising officials of the game. More often than not, we see athletes in the news that are getting in fights, beating up women, stealing cars, or doing drugs. I have found, especially here in Oregon, that people are too forgiving of such deeds and turn the other way when it comes to their actions. As long as the team wins, we don't care if they get into trouble along the way. It seems that our society is so focused on winning that they are forgetting the real reason we have sports in this world: to teach all of us about character building, sportsmanship and humbleness.

I have been involved in competitive sports for my entire life, and I can say that winning is very important. I won a lot in competition, and it always felt good. But I found that I learned a lot more about myself and the sport in which I was competing in if I had lost. As I grew older, I came to realize that winning not just meant the score on the scoreboard, but how I felt. Did I go out and compete to the best of my ability? Did I treat my opponent with dignity and respect? Did I represent myself, my team, and my community in the best way? If I could answer yes to all of those questions, then it was a victory for me.

Armando Galarraga and Jim Joyce will be remembered not for the blown perfect game or a bad call, but for their conduct and honesty after the fact. It is a lesson that we could all learn and benefit from.

Always take on a 3-0 pitch ;)